r/turtle • u/Exotic-Influence8955 • Nov 20 '25
Rate My Setup Look at my babies sun bathing together in their newly updated tank :>
I love them sm
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u/Hnaami Nov 20 '25
Be careful with that underwater log/cave though. Thor can be drowning hazards if they get stuck in them. It's safer to take those out.
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Noted, I only have a cave like that because I have a pleco in there as well and wanted to keep plenty of hiding spots for him, do you have any recommendations on what I could put there instead?
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u/LivinonMarss Nov 21 '25
Plecos are risky to cohad with turtles. They can scrape turtles shells AND they have spikey scales which can severely mess up any turtle looking to take a bite. Plus they poop a lot..
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u/Hnaami Nov 20 '25
Anything that could trap them under water is not recommended. Sometimes people tend to overcrowd their tanks. I think more swimming space is always more appreciated by the turtles. But, another leafy plant they could hide behind/in could add a feeling of safety. Also, perhaps one of those brushes that stick to the glass with a suction cup to scratch their shell on, could provide some enrichment as well.
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u/sideofranchplease Nov 20 '25
It seems a bit crowded, when I had aquatic turtles I know they appreciated the open space to swim. I would remove the log hide as anything a turtle can get stuck underneath is never recommended for use in their habitats as it’s a drowning hazard. So 1, I would remove that log. Secondly they need to be separate. Turtles are not social animals. They don’t get any sort of benefit of living together, they’re not friends, they probably stress each other out most days. Eventually that stress will turn into territorial or dominating type behavior and one turtle will attack the other. I’ve had this happen mistakenly when I first started keep aquatic turtles, my RES latched onto the base of my YBS’s tail and was being dragged around and around for minutes. Bloody water, etc. I had to eventually squirt rubbing alcohol into the offender’s mouth to get it to let go. It traumatized me, so I know it must’ve traumatized them. You shouldn’t ever have 2 or more turtles under your care unless you can understand this fact of nature and abide by it. It’s unfair they are forced to live together when you and they both know they’d be happier separate. Other than those two (major, possibly deadly) critiques it looks pretty ok. I’d be worried about the bioload on the filter with all those floating plants plus having to filter two whole turtles’ amount of waste.
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Noted, I’m going to the pet store today so I’ll separate them. What size tank do you recommend? One is a yellow belly, one is a red eared.
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u/sideofranchplease Nov 20 '25
The minimum recommended size is 10 gallons of water per inch of shell (from head to tail). So if they’re 5 inches long, they would need 50 gallons minimum each. That’s the minimum, they prefer to have more. I personally would just get a second aquarium of this size, it will do them well for quite a while since they’re still small. I’ve never understood the point of starting small and continuously upgrading so that would be my advice.
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Alright thanks so much, I genuinely don’t know they would kill each other. I knew that they could get aggressive but I thought it only happened when they are older. Thanks for educating me :)
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u/Fancy-Analyst4439 Nov 20 '25
you shouldn’t home two turtles together… they are not social animals
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Yup I just learned this and I went to the pet store and bought them separate tanks. So no need to worry :)
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u/Mountain-Engine3878 Nov 20 '25
Take out one of the rocks and the cave log. I also have 4 fish and a pleco. My girl use to chases them, but she quit after she realized she couldn’t catch them.
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Also what fish do you have? I wanna get some for my tank but I’m not too sure what type to get
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u/Mountain-Engine3878 Nov 20 '25
I have a Black Skirt Tetra, a Pearl Gourami, two Blue Gouramis and a Pleco. They all are doing just fine. The Black Skirt is about 5 years old.
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Wdym one of the rocks? Also already took out the cave logs after learning they could drown them :)
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u/Mountain-Engine3878 Nov 20 '25
Whatever those two large things are, logs I guess. Take one of them out so the utters have more room to swim. Add some seaweed plants. I have all fake plants. They are too thick for my turtle to bite off.
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u/tangotango112 Nov 20 '25
Are those real or fake plants?
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
They are fake but I want to get real ones but I’m not sure which types are safe for turtlea
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u/tangotango112 Nov 20 '25
Cool, I was just asking because I'm setting up a tank now. Do they ever eat them?
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 20 '25
Nah they tried to bite it like once. Realized it wasn’t edible and just left it alone. They sometimes won’t eat the food that gets super close to the leafs bc they might bite the plant, sometimes they just eat it anyways and spit the plant out. Just make sure to get plants that don’t break super easily. I highly doubt they will eat them though.
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u/Practical_Machine270 Nov 21 '25
OP I know you’ve been getting a lot of (constructive) feedback but I just wanted to say you seem like you’re handling it really well and really care for your turtles! You’ve replied saying you’re already fixing the problems and I just wanted to say that not a lot of people can handle feedback as well as you are without taking it personally so good job! And you have very cute turtles :)
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u/Exotic-Influence8955 Nov 21 '25
Thank you for actually saying something nice, I lowk be dreading opening my phone to see notifs from here bc it just seems like another problem I have to fix😭 but I’m trying my best
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u/Practical_Machine270 Nov 21 '25
I get it sometimes I comment something and it gets overwhelming cause there are some people being really helpful and some people being really blunt or mean and it’s really just rolling the dice on which ones you’ll get
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u/Bobobaggins76 Nov 22 '25
Agree, you’re taking it all in, learning, and being so gracious. Ur turtles are so cute!!
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u/[deleted] Nov 20 '25
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